We have reached the point in winter, or spring, or whatever it is, when even I am tired of making, eating, and talking about soup. I’ve been meaning to make a batch of vegetable and pearl barley soup for the past week, and I even forced myself to chop up everything the other night before bed, thinking it would inspire me to get on it the next morning, but, eh. Eh. I’d rather do what I did twice last week: throw a cauliflower in the oven, eat the whole pan, and call it a meal.

Roasted cauliflower! Old news! You know how to roast cauliflower. I know how to roast cauliflower. But here I am, talking up roasted cauliflower, because this particular version has become – just as Bon Appétit said it would – my new go-to. The recipe comes from the “BA Arsenal” section of the February 2013 issue, and it’s hardly even a recipe (which is, more and more, my favorite kind of recipe). You’ll probably have it memorized after the first read-through. And I’ll bet you have everything in the house already – except maybe the cauliflower, and that’s easy enough to remedy.

When I roast cauliflower, I usually just, you know, roast it: sliced cauliflower, olive oil, salt, boom. But Allie Lewis Clapp, food editor of Bon Appétit, apparently swears by the combination of cauliflower and onion, the former caramelized and the latter “just-this-side-of-burnt.” (Color = flavor! Assuming, of course, that you don’t go too far and actually burn the onions, which I did once; see photo below.) To the cauliflower and onion, she suggests that you add a few sprigs of thyme and a few whole, unpeeled cloves of garlic, all of it slicked with some olive oil. Then you chuck it in a hot, hot oven, and after barely half an hour, the cauliflower winds up velvety, meaty, even rich, and the onions relax and soften into sweetness, and the garlic is tender enough to spread on toast, and a dark, savory, somewhat bewitching smell has filled your kitchen – or your entire house, if you’re me and your house is small and the exhaust fan doesn’t really work, even though it roars like the engine of a semi scaling a mountain pass. Then you grate some Parmesan over the whole pan, slide it back into the oven, and pull it out when the cheese has melted and crisped into crisp, lacy, frico-like webs and shards.

At this point, you could divide it between a couple of bowls, put a fried egg on top of each, and call it lunch. You could also divide it between four plates and call it a side dish. You could toss it with pasta, probably, though I haven’t tried it, and serve it with more Parmesan. Or you could just eat it, period, which is what I’ve been doing. If you have any leftovers, they’re good at any temperature – even cold, eaten straight from a Mason jar while sitting in your car outside the pottery studio after class.

Happy weekend.

Recipe

Parmesan-Roasted Cauliflower

Adapted from Bon Appétit and Allie Lewis Clapp

One word of caution: don’t slice the onions too thinly here, or they’ll be more likely to burn. I’d aim for ½-inch-thick slices, if I were you.

1 head cauliflower, trimmed

1 medium onion, sliced

4 thyme sprigs

4 unpeeled garlic cloves

3 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Parmesan or Grana Padano, for grating

Preheat the oven to 425°F, and line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment.

Place the cauliflower on a cutting board, and slice it top-down into roughly 1/3-inch slices. Some of the slices will crumble, and that’s fine. Scoop all of the cauliflower into a large bowl, and add the onion, thyme, garlic, and olive oil. Toss well. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Arrange the mixture in a single layer on the prepared sheet pan. Roast, tossing occasionally, until the cauliflower is mostly tender, golden brown, and caramelized at the edges, 25-30 minutes. Take the pan out of the oven, and grate a generous amount of Parmesan over the vegetables. (The original recipe calls for ½ cup, but I didn’t measure mine; I just eyeballed it.) Return the pan to the oven, and continue to roast for another 5 or 10 minutes. You’re basically cooking it to eye: you want the cauliflower to be nicely caramelized, but you don’t want the onions to burn.

We call this cauliflower candy in our house. The danger is taking out of the oven too soon before the rest of dinner is ready and it's just there, on the counter, in easy reach. Before you know it, it's half gone.

We love it plain or on pasta, but I recently piled it on top of Heidi Swanson's red lentil brown rice soup for dinner and that is my new favorite.

Yesterday when I went to stock up on veggies for the weekend, orange and purple cauliflowers were 99 cents each. Fortunately, I have a container of the red lentil soup in my freezer!

I buy a cauliflower once a week, and I always have onions in the house so this will be a good one to try. If you have never made John Besh's Puréed Cauliflower with a dot of curry powder in it, it's worth trying.

I do the same thing – roast a cauliflower and eat the whole pan! I just toss the florets with olive oil and a very healthy amount of garam masala. The sweet and spicy flavors go so well with the caramelized cauliflower and the kitchen smells divine.

I too discovered this recipe this winter on a BA search and have made it several times. Such an easy go to. I'm still having trouble with the onions burning. Last time I added them 20 minutes after the cauliflower and they still burned. Maybe I'm slicing them too thinly. Also, since I never have fresh thyme in the winter I've been been doing a sprinkling of Herbes de Provence instead. I'm determined to try that whole roasted cauliflower with whipped goat cheese situation that keeps coming up on the BA search as well.

Nothing beats your own recipe for roasted cauliflower Molly! I've been making the recipe from your first book for years now. The lime vinaigrette (I reduce the salsa verde to a vinaigrette) is the best thing to happen to cauliflower since, well, forever.

I feel the same about soup. I've cooked all the soup, let's move on. And yes! I love roasted cauliflower even better than broccoli. Love this dish mixed in pasta, with a little butter (because why not) and red pepper flakes to keep it from looking so uniform in color. I would eat it every night in the winter.

I'm reading your book now, and it is lovely. I adore the notion of food as a family legacy, the very best heirloom. I made your dad's potato salad this weekend. Ranch and caraway, genius!

This is the BEST could eat it every week and of course have put my own touch on it like we all do.I add broccoli, use shallots (quartered length wise) instead of onions, tons of fresh thyme and toss with fresh garlic when I add the parmesan so it doesn't have that burnt taste. Husband loves it, pass it on to the son and his fiancé and the mother calls it divine! Voila xo

Love the no-recipe recipe. Who has time for actual read them through to the end recipes, or the inclination. With cake, yes. But not cauliflower. I love the idea of onions, unpeeled garlic and just this side of burnt everything. Lovely. Sophie

Your book (first book I should say!) taught me the addictive edibility of roasted cauliflower. This recipe sounds great as well. But I made fresh asparagus/pea soup with goat cheese today, and it was awesome. Actually, would go with roasted cauliflower! maybe book 3 could be Not Even a Recipe cookbook.

NIce! Coming from the Philippines, it's always refreshing to make your recipes sans the rice. Although purple mountain rice with this is just as good as pasta!BTW, am addicted to your toasted oatmeal!!!

I have spent the winter exploring all the ramen shops in LA… like you and soup, it's time to move on. I have a beautiful head of cauliflower I bought yesterday at the farmer's market. It's approaching lunchtime… guess what I'm having for lunch with a couple 3 minutes eggs?! Thanks for the post. Cheers – Jeff

I just read your book, A Homemade Life, it's a very touching journal. I made the Roast Eggplant Ratatouille last night & the fam loved it. I posted a link to your recipes in my blog, http://dustoffurthinkin.blogspot.com/and mentioned your book/blog. I'm a new follower to Orangette and enjoy it greatly.

I made this last night and it was a hit. i even forgot to add the parmesan and it was still so yummy and rich with flavor. Next time I'll add the cheese to give it a try. thanks for sharing this one! I love recipes that take so little prep and end up being so “gourmet”.

I made this last night and it was a hit. i even forgot to add the parmesan and it was still so yummy and rich with flavor. Next time I'll add the cheese to give it a try. thanks for sharing this one! I love recipes that take so little prep and end up being so “gourmet”.

I am just catching up on your blog, and I have to say – I have been eating a ton of cauliflower lately and (finally!) signed up for pottery lessons weeks ago – they start next sunday and I cannot WAIT. Looking forward to the new book!!

I'm another one who's been eating cauliflower for dinner. I usually put it in a skillet with oil and salt & pepper and roast uncovered for about 20-25 minutes until it gets golden and then cover or add cream and cover and let it cook for an additional 15 minutes or so. This allows the cauliflower to steam and get soft, but it will still have those crispy parts. The cream version is inspired by your Brussels sprout recipe. Sometimes I cook off the remaining cream on the stove. Really delicious!

Hi Molly, I'll never forget when, years ago–around 2007–I told you my daughter was spending a semester in Paris and you gave me suggestions for places to go, eat at. etc. It was so kind of you, so, thanks again! Anyway, my favorite way to use roasted cauliflower is to roast it with some harissa paste and then toss it with preserved lemon and halved green Greek olives.

We made this last night Molly, and it was delicious.I threw a few spoonfuls of salty capers on top when the cauliflower went in for its second grilling with the grans padano. Served it with the fried egg and some red quinoa I had in the cupboard. Really great, thank you.

48228468 865Oooohhhh Molly! I just made this for our 7th wedding anniversary dinner. So delicious! Thank you… and I'm bummed that I won't see you when you in SF on your tour. Maybe I will drive up to Portland and catch you there!

Molly, thank you so much for this. It was delicious. You say roasted cauliflower is old news, but even though I love cauliflower – especially raw with hummus, I'd never thought of roasting it. I live in Algeria, where the range of vegetables is a bit limited so it's great to find a new way with something that is readily available!

This sounds like a delish variation on my own go-to, and I will be trying it as I love roasted onions. My version: whisk together balsamic and olive oil, coat the sliced cauliflower, and roast on tin foil lining the pan — finish off with the parmesan under the broiler. Despite better cooks' warnings about not putting balsamic to high heat, it turns out great — the balsamic and olive oil create their own reduction and after I plate the cauliflower, I use the foil to capture every last drizzle of the reduction back atop the cauliflower.

On a similar note, I roast broccoli but only in olive oil. After it's browned but not too brown (can burn and turn ashy), I squeeze lemon liberally over it, toss on as many toasted pine nuts as I'm in the mood for, and cover the whole thing (again on tin foil) with parmesan and toast under the broiler. IT's never there long enough to harm the lemon juice or the pine nuts. It's a delicious combo and almost as easy as the cauliflower.

Helen in CA, roasting the garlic in the “shell” keeps it moist, so that when it's done roasting, the clove is soft and spreadable. Some servings will get unpeeled cloves, yes, but it's easy to discard the papery shell, and then you can eat the tender inside.

This is SO good as is…BUT! I was reading the article about middle eastern food last week in the NYT so I decided to play with it only a little bit. I added two tbsp of za'atar before roasting. Then, when it was done, I tossed the whole thing with a cup of cooked red quinoa and threw in the finely grated zest of a lemon. In a little bowl on the side I made a yogurt tahini sauce with garlic, a little lemon and water. It was so likeable even my pickiest kid liked it. Although he isn't really THAT picky. Also, the colors were gorgeous.

Just made it tonight and now I wish I bought two heads.We have an electric range and it took a little linger, but it was worth it.I wish I had put more garlic in. 7 cloves were not enough.The grated cheese is a great touch.